


Kould Ts'ens Fish and Braised Mushrooms | A Shisa Girl's Spoon

by UrsulaKohl



Category: Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie
Genre: Blogging, Broiling is scary, Casual references to imperialism, Cooking, Even the Radch has sourdough, Gen, Recipes, Shis'urna, Space Stations, ro2sid 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:22:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23596042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UrsulaKohl/pseuds/UrsulaKohl
Summary: A Radchaai food blogger tries an exotic new technique: broiling.
Comments: 17
Kudos: 56





	Kould Ts'ens Fish and Braised Mushrooms | A Shisa Girl's Spoon

What's the first time you spent the night away from home? For me, it was Observatory Night. I must have been about eight years old. They gathered all of the children from my class in a big room near the edge of Shisa Station. We huddled into our sleep sacks, munching on salty-sweet mushroom spread rolled in crisp algae wraps. When we were almost quiet, they turned out almost all the lights. I still remember the shock of seeing Shis'urna from the darkness. It seemed so huge and close, floating up there just outside the window, clouds swirling white over blue and brown like the nutrient paste stirred into children's tea. And now I live on Shis'urna itself, in Kould Ts'ens! The city is near a wide, flat lake. Sometimes I think the lake is a piece of shiny green candy hidden in the nutrient paste. 

If a child grows up in Ts'ens, her first night away from home is likely out-of-doors. There are parks prepared for this purpose, where the ground is swept and concrete circles are arranged. They place burning organic matter inside the circles, lay a metal lattice over it, and cook food in the smoke!

I'm a station girl, and you're not getting me near an open flame. But the kitchen in the flat I'm renting has an inverted system, with a heating element above and the metal lattice underneath, and I've finally tested all of the safety alerts and decided to try it! That's right, last night this station girl learned how to broil. 

My lover and I made a classic homestyle north Shis'urna meal: fish, [flatbread](https://www.ediblecommunities.com/recipes/skillet-greek-yogurt-sourdough-flatbreads/), and braised brassica. I threw mushrooms in with my purple cabbages. Go on, call me a stationer again, but it just doesn't feel like a meal without a fungus somewhere.

My lover is interested in wild fermentation, so she got the flatbread started. We used an extract of softened oats for the liquid, along with some oil for richness and vinegar for tang. While the bread dough rested, I started the marinade for the fish. I ground your classic warm spices, cumin and dried rose petals, with a single prickly-ash peppercorn to heighten the flavors. The next component of the mix was sweet paprika:

Coarse salt, crushed garlic, and chopped green onion go in next:

I mixed the dry ingredients with oil and lemon juice, then gave my fish fillet a spa treatment! I had a pink piece of lake fish, which the paprika turned an astonishing rosy color, like the sun refracting through storm clouds.

The fish went into the chiller to marinate, while I turned my attention to the vegetables. Two kinds of dried mushrooms were already soaking. You could almost call it tea!

These leeks were sold to me as artisanal local farm production. They were filthy. Sometimes I think planetsiders are a little too excited about dirt.

I cleaned the leeks, chopped oyster mushrooms and cabbage, and crushed some white peppercorns with salt. I love the tangy aroma of white pepper!

I fried sliced leeks in oil until the rings began to soften and separate:

I stirred in the cabbage and three kinds of mushrooms, along with white pepper and isot pepper:

Then I poured in the water from soaking the dried mushrooms (after straining it! I mentioned planetsiders and dirt!), covered the pan, and left the vegetables to braise. I stuck my marinated fish under the broiler, too!

My lover hates getting her gloves sticky, even kitchen gloves, so while the fish and vegetables were cooking, I rolled out the flatbreads for her and cooked them in a hot pan. Look at me, stacking up the flatbread like a real north Shis'urna girl!

I had a thick fillet of fish, so some of the marinade charred before the center was cooked through. You should be proud I didn't call the safety committee. The end result, though, was _delicious_. The brightness of the citrus complements the warm spices and draws out the isot pepper in the vegetables, and the fish was tender and flaky.

### Kould Ts'ens Broiled Lakefish

Choose an approximately one-pound fillet of a firm fish, such as lake salmon.

#### Marinade Ingredients

1 prickly ash peppercorn  
4 tsp. dried culinary rose petals  
2 tsp. cumin seeds  
2 tsp. sweet paprika  
1 tsp. coarse salt  
3 cloves garlic, crushed  
5-6 green onion stems, sliced  
2 tbsp. lemon juice  
2 tbsp. oil

#### Method

In a spice grinder, grind the prickly ash peppercorn, rose petals, and cumin. Combine with the other marinade ingredients and stir to mix. Coat fish with the mixture and marinade in the chiller for at least half an hour. Position a rack close to the broiler and place the fish on a heavy iron pan. Broil, flipping every three to four minutes, until a thermometer inserted in the center reads at least 125° F. Allow to rest for five minutes before serving.

### Homestyle North Shis'urna Braised Vegetables

#### Ingredients

1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms  
1/4 cup dried lobster mushrooms  
3 leeks, sliced into fine rings  
1 pint fresh oyster mushrooms, separated and sliced  
1/4 purple cabbage, sliced  
1 tbsp. oil  
1/2 tsp. white pepper, crushed  
1/2 tsp. isot pepper  
1/2 tsp. salt

#### Method

Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water to cover. When they are soft, drain them, straining and reserving the mushroom liquid. Chop the softened mushrooms. Heat the oil in a wide saucepan over medium-high heat. When it is warm, fry the leeks until the rings soften and separate. Add the dried and fresh mushrooms, cabbage, spices, and salt. Stir to mix. Add the reserved mushroom liquid, cover the pan, and turn heat to low. Braise gently for five to ten minutes, or until the cabbage is tender.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to KalynaAnne for collecting Radchaai food references and to SylvanAuctor for helping me create a weirder city name and other moral support. 
> 
> I used olive oil in my test cooking, but a neutral oil such as grapeseed oil or even untoasted sesame oil might also be appropriate for the Radch. Isot pepper, also known as Urfa biber, is similar to Aleppo pepper; my source is [World Spice](https://www.worldspice.com/).


End file.
